The Thirsty Crow: A Moral Story (in English) With Pictures

Updated on December 7, 2015

Short Moral Stories in English for Children

Most children love being told stories. Short stories, like this thirsty crow story, are both easy to tell and to listen to. These are ideal for children, especially for preschoolers and toddlers since their attention spans are often rather short. And when children start reading stories on their own, short stories may be easier to start with, particularly stories with lots of pictures.

There are a wide variety of short stories for kids available in English, including collections of fairy tales, Aesop's fables, Panchatantra tales, Jataka tales, tales from the Arabian nights, and so forth. The story of the thirsty crow is one of these.

Reading such stories can help kids improve their English comprehension skills. These stories come with positive values and morals embedded in them; they are not just entertainment for children, but also as a very useful and interesting way of building good values and teaching lessons.

The thirsty crow story

This is a re-telling of a very old and famous story. This story is often used to exemplify a popular saying, "Where there is a will there is a way."

The thirsty crow does not give up when faced with a difficult problem. Rather, it tries to find a way to solve the problem. Furthermore, it acts with patience and persistence until the problem is solved.

The Thirsty Crow

Kalu was a clever crow who lived in a beautiful village. One day, he had flown to the next village to meet with Uncle Crow. Uncle Crow was the oldest crow in the neighborhood. He was quite wise and knew many things.

Kalu was flying back home after the visit with Uncle Crow. However, as he was flying, Kalu wished he could get some water to drink. All that listening had made him really thirsty. Unfortunately, he was flying over a long stretch of fields and there was no pond or any water in sight. "Oh! I am so thirsty. How can I get some water?" thought Kalu.

The thirsty crow flies home.

Kalu looked around here and there as he flew. Now, Kalu had pretty good eyesight. Even while flying really fast, he could spot things on the ground. So as he was looking about, he spotted a pot on the ground below.

Kalu was overjoyed. "Ah! A pot. That must mean water," he thought. So, he flew down towards the pot.

Kalu peered into the pot. There was some water, indeed. But alas, it was too low in the pot. Try as he might, Kalu just couldn't reach the water in the pot.

He tried again and again, putting his beak into the pot. But he just couldn't reach the water. Kalu began to get just a little frustrated. "What a pity," he thought. "The water is just in front of me, but I am not able to reach it. Whatever should I do now? I am so thirsty and seeing the water has just made me even thirstier!"

The thirsty crow finds the water, but it's too low in the pot.

Just as Kalu was about to give up and fly away, some words he had heard from Uncle Crow came to his mind. The wise Uncle Crow had just a little while ago told Kalu that he should always try to solve a problem and not give up. "Where there is a will there is a way," Uncle had impressed upon him.

"What would Uncle do now," pondered Kalu. "Well, he certainly would not have given up."

The thirsty crow ponders over its problem.

Kalu looked around for inspiration. He then glanced upon a few pebbles lying about. And suddenly, he got it. "What an idea," he exclaimed. "A real gem of an idea. Or I should say . . . a real pebble of an idea!"

The thirsty crow looks around for inspiration.

He picked up the pebbles one by one and dropped them into the pot.

Now, what do you think happened?

Well, the water in the pot rose higher and higher. He dropped more and more pebbles until the water rose up so high that he was finally able to reach the water. He drank the water and flew away happily.

"Uncle Crow is indeed right," he thought. "Where there is a will, there is a way."

The thirsty crow drops pebbles into the pot

The thirsty crow drinks the water

Short Stories Can Be Good Fun

There are many other short kids' stories just like this one. Many story books with beautiful pictures are available for kids at the store and online, as well.

A child who is introduced to books and loves books will never feel lonely or bored. Kids' stories with pictures are often a wonderful source of wholesome entertainment for children, and can often be quite educational, too.

Comments 10 comments

I like this story and this story give me more help for writing the story in this moral:Where There is a will there is a way

wwriter 3 years ago from India Author

Thank you. Glad you liked the story.

nabanita 3 years ago

Really interesting ! I think use of simple English words and related pictures will help each child to understand the inner meaning of the story easily. It will grow their interest in reading more short stories like this.